This invention relates to novel coating mixes for use in treating meat, poultry or seafood prior to cooking and to processes employed for applying these coating mixes.
It is known to add certain materials to uncooked meat, poultry or seafood for the purpose of tenderizing and/or retaining moisture within the cooked foodstuff. For example, hams are injected with aqueous solutions of table salt and sodium pyrophosphate to achieve improved color and juice retention. U.S. Pat. No. 3,552,978 discloses the surface application of finely divided amino acids either alone or in combination with other substances such as table salt, spice and/or flavors in order to obtain a tenderizing effect on meat. U.S. Pat. No. 3,506,455 discloses impregnating uncooked meat, such by needle injection, with organic material which is capable of binding meat fluids and reducing cooking loss. Materials such as starches, proteins, alginates, pectates, carrageenans, gums, modified cellulose and mixtures thereof. The use of gelling solutions on fresh meat, poultry and seafood in order to extend storage life has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,395,024. The use of calcium salts of carrageenan as a coating dispersion for precooked meats, poultry and seafood in order to extend frozen storage life is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4,196,219.
The use of coating mixes in advance of cooking meat, poultry and seafood are known. These coating mixes are generally intended to retain moisture, improve appearance, tenderize, provide a flavor impact or provide a crisp coating. These prior art coatings have found utility, particularly in the home environment, to enable the preparation of meat, poultry and seafood with increased appeal; however, these coatings generally do not perform well in microwave ovens and do not perform well with meats such as pork.
It is an object of this invention to provide a coating mix which produces improved yields (i.e., moisture retention) and tenderness across a wide variety of foodstuffs and across a wide variety of cooking techniques (e.g. electric or gas-fired ovens, electric or gas-fired grills, broilers and especially microwave ovens).